He'Brew Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah (13) | Shmaltz Brewing Company

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Reviews by jdklks:

Pours a super-dark brown with mahogony edges and a medium brown head that disappears quickly, but leaves a healthy-sized island of bubbles in the middle of an over-sized wine glass. The smell is of dark malts and hops. Chocolate, caramel, grain, figs, plum, etc. For 13% abv, there is surprisingly little alcohol detectable in the smell.

It's not that the taste isn't complex, nor even that it isn't good. It's just really messy and all over the place, not blended very well. Up front you're hit with some caramel and brown sugar sweetness that fades into the sweetness of figs and plum. Lots of raisins as well. The finish and aftertaste are ruled by a sort of rotten hoppiness that doesn't really find its place among all the malts, but nevertheless succeeds in making the beer [somewhat unpleasantly] bitter. There's chocolate lurking in the background throughout.

The beer is nice and thick, and well carbonated for what it is. A little dry on both the tongue and the palate.

Edit: After finishing the beer, I've changed the drinkability from a 3 to a 4.5. Huge change, right? Well, my critiques of the beer everywhere else still stand, but for whatever reason, this went down ridiculously easy and fast. In other words, great drinkability.

More User Reviews:

Poured into a tulip glass a ruby tinged dark brown,a large clingy light almond colored head atop that took the duration of the glass to settle into a frothy mass.A mix of dark fruit,sweet alcohol,and roasted nut in the nose,slight chocolate is in the background.Full and silky in the mouth,it coats but is not sticky,very nice.Sweeter flavors at the onset,dark fruit and dark brown sugar flavors mixed with sweet alcohol make it warming,there is a slight roasty flavor in the finish,its sweet but not cloying.This a sipper no doubt,the alcohol does show itself with ease,buts it is what it is a big bold beer that isnt overly sweet,I like it.

He'brew Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah 13... 13% alcohol by volume. Yes this a a big and bold Jewish beer ha ha ha... Love it and look foward to the outcome.

A- Pours a almost pitch black fluid with only the rims of the beer showing any signs of light in a brownish red haze. Carbonated head raises to a one inch top falling to a beautiful froth and heavy lacing that clings to the top of the glass and never lets go.

S- This beer smells of massive chocolate cocoa and burnt malts upfront. Followed by a creamy expresso stout-like scent of cream and coffee.
Boozy hints of alcohol are present but not "hi my name is kick you in the ass" noticeable.

T-M- Taste is one of a kind with a thick syrup like burnt malt flavor. (Chocolate, carmel, toasted and candied) This beer pounds a excessive stout and porter backbone that only amplifies the large amount of complex flavors and simple layers of stouts and porters. Mouthfeel is creamy and expresso like.

D- This beer is dangerous and drinkable as hell. I will buy six of these and get my moneys worth when 5.99 is the price for an excellent Imperial Stout/ Strong Ale?

im loving the delicious malt flavors going on. very complex. the malts hit you at first. dark chocolate, roasted malts, sweet malts, toffee, dark fruits, raisons, dates, plums, a little honey... at the end you get some really nice citrus hops to attempt to balance the beer. but the toffee and chocolate roasted malts come back in to play with a bitter finish.

big heavy body. some what creamy mouthfeel gives way to a bitter chalky finish. for 13 percent, you prolly couldnt tell if you didnt know.

its abv is usually a testament to the drinkability, but this one goes down pretty quickly and easily in my case. i drank it surprisingly fast and definatly felt the effects...in a good way.

man...what a complex enjoyable beer. if you can find it, get it and share with a friend or drink by your lonesome, either way your sure to enjoy it. i would love to see what some age could do to this if only i could get another bomber.

Deep mahogany colored with a light brown thick and dimpled head that settles out slowly and evenly, leaving a firm cap.

Chalky aroma of cocoa and dark malt. Rich and bold flavor of dark malt, raisin, smoke, cocoa, expresso bitterness, hints of smoke, and molasses. Very rich and complex, not much hop flavor but a firm bitterness offsets the malt.

Rich and full and smooth and creamy mouthfeel, very satisfying. Faintly powdery. Really flavorful beer, very bold, a good sipper, but I will easily finish the whole bomber.

Poured a dark brown with a giant brown head. Smells very sugary sweet. Hard to pull specifics out of the sweetness. Taste is sickeningly sweet. Very thick and sticky, so sweet it is difficult to drink. Would be very pleasent if the sweetness were turned down a few notches. No hops to be found, a very one dimensional beer.

My wife and I had some fun with this beer last week, she's all about anything that's darker. Usually that entails some kind of a stout or porter for her tastes but I was happy to see this 13% Jewish strong ale pour as dark as it did. Almost pitch black with some ruby highlights making it through when held toward the light, a full formed tan head after a pretty rough pour, leaves behind speckled lacing down the sides of my chalice. Aroma is nice full of big fruit, plums, roasted caramel malts, dark charred malts, a bit herbal and peppery with earthy hops and a touch of the booze to meld things together. Flavor wise there were layers of caramel malts, nearly burnt brown sugar, with roasted hints of dark malts balancing the sweetness. Juicy luscious ripened dark fruits, plums, raisin, some tart apple with a rustic dark chocolate caramelized nearly burnt sugars with a touch of vanilla in the finish. Really 13 malts, 13 hops it could taste like anything. Hops as many different ones as there are form a muddled citrus tea earthy quality that balances out the booze and malt sweetness to make this thing actually drinkable. Mouthfeel is full bodied with near reduced syrup textures at times, carbonation carries it all pretty well and like I said besides a bit of 13% booze lighting things up it's pretty smooth as a whole. Repeat purchase maybe after I try the rest of the crazy Jewbelation beers I really need to find that variety pack they have out. Last year it had all of the Jewbelation varieties up until 14.

T - Chocolate and coffee are the first things I notice, but the other flavors from become very prevalent as the glass warms a bit. There is definitely some bitterness and a slight citrusy/resinous taste. Lots of sweet roasted malts back all this up in nicely balanced package. The alcohol is slightly noticeable in the finish.

M - Full body and very sticky.

D - This is a sipper for sure, but definitely a surprisingly balanced beer.

Pours black with a one-finger light brown head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of smooth roasted malts with good amounts of dark fruits - figs, plums, and hints of dark cherries. Also noticeable are hints of dark chocolate.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Roasted malt and dark chocolate flavors kick things off and are quickly joined by well-integrated fruit flavors. The roasted malt flavor reasserts itself before a solidly bitter ending.

Mouthfeel is very good. It's got a smooth thickness that's thicker than I expected with grainy carbonation.

Drinkability is good. I finished my glass and I could have another.

Overall I thought this was a very good beer as it is, but judging from Jewbelation 11 this will get much better after letting it sit for a bit. Still, it's worth a shot now and down the road.

Finally decided to open this '09 while watching football. Poured it into a porter glass. Head was minimal. Five years ago the alcohol was just too obvious; coupled with Shmaltz's ritual of matching the malt to the year in question (13), it was too sweet for my palate. Still can't find the 13 hops. Alcohol has definitely mellowed and malt much less sweet.

Poured from a bottle slightly chilled from the cellar into a brandy snifter. Is this really an Imperial Stout?

A-Deep dark appearance. Slight ruby highlights when held to a light bulb, but this sucker is dark. Slight tan head that fades to virtually nothing. A little ring maybe. Looks rich and tasty. Wish it had a head.

S-Stout? Not sure about that, but I'll leave it to the taste. I'm smelling barleywine, and a rich one at that. Dark candied sugar fruits and alcohol throughout. A bit of a yeasty background.

T-Holy cow! An H bomb of taste explosion in the first sip. The nose carries into the taste, with rum soaked dark fruits predominating, a hint of dark ripe cherry, and some bittersweet bakers chocolate somewhere behind leading to a slightly astringent bitter finish. A deeply sweet roasted taste to all. I have to cleanse the palate with sharp cheese and crackers between sips to try to pick out all of the flavors in this exceedingly interesting (abd very strong) brew. This may be a case of "too much is too much"...13 hops, 13 malts, 13 ABV, but although it is very over the top, it is fairly balanced and is not overly hopped. I like this, and I bet with some age, it will mature into something pretty special.

M-On the heavier side, slighly oily, a bit chewy, and carbonation is spot on. Just about right for this brew.

D-A snifter of this is about all you can take at a time...it is strong, potent and flavorful and would definately make a great after dinner beer (or one enjoyed with a good cigar). Buy it again? Hell yes, and I'm putting some away to see how this ages. My guess is a bit of age on this, and it may easily be a new favorite.

Not sure how this got to be called an Imperial Stout. Seems more like a Barleywine, or perhaps a strong ale, but it does have some stoutlike characteristics. Let's just say that it defies characterization. Try it. If you like strong flavor packed brews, you will like it.

This beer pours a deep, dark, shoe-polish brown colour, with mahogany edges, and three fingers of creamy, foamy beige head, that keeps rising, even when you think it has exhausted that particular trick. It leaves a thick wall of lace around the glass as it beats its retreat. The aroma is strong caramel and toffee in the malt side of things, some chocolate, fruity and zingy hops, and alcohol. The taste is big astringent pine hops, strong dark fruit, molasses, brown sugar, and chocohol. The carbonation is moderate, the body full, dense, and lusciously smooth, and it finishes with the weight of the front-loaded, top-heavy nature of the beer - sweet, boozy, and hoppy, in equal and copious portions.

For a bottle that is the equivalent of your average table wine, strength-wise, the alcohol is very well sublimated, to a surprisingly gentle warming. Amongst this, an amazing array of flavours, that distract nicely from the eventual effect of a bomber's worth of indulgence. Oh, and Go, Canada, beat 'dem Yanks! And I'm aware of the irony of the American heritage of this beer...

Some of Shmaltz's previous anniversary ales were listed as brown ales on this site, and while this one is very brown, I'm thinking it has finally been classified properly here on BA: as an American Strong Ale. Or, more appropriately, a Jewish-American Strong Ale. The head is thin and settles to a long-lasting light golden-brown skim. The color is, as said, very brown. Just a couple shades from black.

Aroma brings in some vinous qualities, some alcohol heat, unsweetened/bitter baking chocolate, a ghost of fig, and dark bread. Nice, but nothing yet indicates the greatness that were their 10th and 12th anniversary ales (I missed 11, unfortunately).

The flavor, however, has it all. At least, all that a lover of big American strong ales could want. Immediately bringing to mind Bell's Third Coast Old Ale, this has a comforting, warming vibe about it. Gooey and rich without being overly so, it brings to mind chocolate syrup, figs, dark grapes, lightly charred wood, burnt chocolate, liqueur-filled chocolate candies, chocolate cake, chocolate-flavored coffee, and s'mores. So...yeah, pretty chocolate-y, which is apparently from some kind of primo chocolate malt used. Brewed with 13 malts, there's a good chance at least several are of the chocolate variety. The 13 different hop varieties, however, are embedded more subtly into the fabric of this complex ale. The alcohol underscores and makes warm the richer flavors, yet is surprisingly downplayed in the overall flavor profile. Wow...nice job, guys.

Texturally this is as gooey, chewy and rounded as you'd want it to be, but, like the alcohol presence, it's not at all overbearing. To achieve textural and flavor balance on a big-ass brew like this is an accomplishment, and the fact it's not a mess nor overbearing is remarkable.

I'm gonna give this a 4.5 for "drinkability," because for 13%, it goes down with exceptional smoothness--and because I would much rather nurse one of these for an hour or so than session a lesser, blander beer. So be it. I'll never miss another Shmaltz anniversary ale as long as they brew, and hopefully that's going to be a long, long time.

Smell: Gentle, a warm boozyness, some raisin and plum, lots of dark malt, but still subtle...

Taste: NOT SUBTLE!!!! Wow! this is a smack in the mouth of dark dark malt, lots of the dark fruits suggested in the nose, rye malts, barley, thick, dark and sweet. There is some spice in here, and a warming sensation from the high ABV yet is still hidden. Very sneaky, I like it! Tons of bitterness and spice from the hops, very robust and leaves a nice bitterness on the tongue.

Mouthfeel: Slick, smooth and medium. Not a lot of bubbles, as you'd expect from high ABV dark like this, but thickin the mouth from all the proteins and phenols making yummy time on your tongue.

Drinkbility: Respect this beer. Take your time. This is a slow, warming beer. It's got a lot of character and demands that you get involved with it and think it through. Delicious, sneaky, smooth and rich as rich can be. Have fun... this is a damn fine beer.

Overall: Man oh man! I am glad I got two bombers of this. This will be something I'll revisit tonight for sure. Grab a third and fourth to age, this can only get better with age.

Thanks Jason. Rather chocolate, roasty, could pass as a sweet stout. Coconut there suggesting barrel againg. Average mouthfeel. Very dark with an off-white head, lots of lace. Sour aromas. Complex malt and also coffee.Fine, but not the most enjoyable Hebrew I have had.

Stone fruit, chocolate, and dark roast malt on the palate. Hops are very subdued (despite so many varieties being utilized), offering very faint bitterness and maybe a touch of satsuma. Sweet but growing dry into the finish. A bit hot overall, but not solventy.

Beer pours a super dark black with a reddish/brownish tinge and zero head. Very heavy, oil-like viscosity. Smell is rich and malty like a stout, not roasty or nutty like a brown ale.

Complex grain flavors with a crisp hop aftertaste. Dark and layered, but not delicate. Espresso, molasses, tart fruit. Very nice. Oh, and heady. HEADY. Low carbonation makes it seem highly drinkable, but finishing a bomber by myself will be a chore. Oh, but a delicious chore.

S- The aroma is dark bready malts and hints of caramel. Not a whole lot in terms of hops in the nose.

T- The taste like the aroma starts out with a good dose of malts. The hops are much more prevalent in the taste than in the aroma creating a nice bitterness in the finish. The 13% alcohol creates some heat in the finish as well.

M- The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation.

D- Overall, this is another solid beer from this brewery. Definitely worth a try.

As a fan of Jewbelation 14, I was happy to find a bottle of this Jewbelation 13 Bar Mitzvah sitting on the shelf at a beer distributor I had recently visited. I was interested in seeing how it differs from it's younger brother.

I poured the Jewbelation into a glass goblet at about 56 degrees. I found that it poured and looked very much like the 14 a rich deep dark brown with ruby hues. It had a nice tan head that receded but not completely with some moderate lacing.

The smell was similar but more pungent then it's younger brother. It smelled of malt, very ripe dark fruits, chocolate and cherry notes.

The taste was as good as the 14 if not better. It has an initial malty sweetness that gives way to those dark fruits. The alcohol is not as predominant as it is in the 14 and I believe it's a combination of starting off at a lower ABV and having a year to mature.

Overall, this is still a favorite of mine for a fun good tasting brew that packs a powerful Kosher punch. Certainly I would reccomend this to anyone that enjoys a flavorful brew. Enjoy!!!

The taste is a mix of raisin, black licorice, and heavy roasted chocolate malt. The high alcohol was masked nicely. It held the same flavor throughout the entire glass, even as it warmed. THAT I enjoyed.

It was a thicker beer and the carbonation wasn't overhelming. It had a really nice balance.

A surprise as I didn't know what to expect. It was a really good beer but at 13%, you can't have too many of these suckers.